The present invention relates to the textile industry, and more particularly to a water permeable, laminated textile product, such as artificial turf.
The use of artificial turf as an outdoor playing surface is known. One disadvantage of artificial turf, and of all textile fabrics in general, is that they have an inadequate amount of dimensional stability. Knitted products in particular have poor dimensional stability because of the large amount of space between individual fibers. The lack of stability causes the textile products to either stretch, pucker, wrinkle or generally lose shape when under stress. For example, large expanses of artificial turf are subject to extreme amounts of deformity due to exposure to harsh climatic conditions, as well as to the physical punishment experienced during athletic events.
The most preferred method of accomplishing dimensional stability in a textile product is laminating a scrim onto the rear surface of the textile fabric. This typically requires placing a coating of adhesive across the entire fabric rear surface. A problem exists, however in that the adhesive tends to harden in the spaces between the fibers of the textile fabric, thereby creating a water barrier. As a result, the textile product becomes impermeable to water. This problem is of particular importance in the case of artificial turf because rain water and other liquids become trapped on and within the turf surface and interfere with events. Furthermore, the presence of the adhesive tends to create a vapor barrier between the ground surface and turf, which in turn is detrimental in allowing fumes from cements or glues to evaporate during installation of the turf. To overcome this problem, holes have been punched through the textile product. This, however, results in diminished dimensional stability.
Therefore, there exists a need for a textile product which includes a scrim backing and Which is water and vapor permeable.
There exists a further need for such a product which maintains adequate dimensional stability.